


the mind electric

by KrasotaBella



Category: Rusty Lake | Cube Escape (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Blood and Gore, Death, Dissociation, Drabbles, Guilt, Horror, Loneliness, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Short Stories, Surrealism, Time Loop, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22282963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrasotaBella/pseuds/KrasotaBella
Summary: see how the brain plays around,and you fall inside a hole you couldn't seea place to store my (usually canon-divergent) paradox drabbles!tags will be edited as chapters are released
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Rusty Lake**

[Flash Fiction]

— — —

Chapter One: **Eye Contact**

[Dale and Laura meet, in passing.]  
  
Chapter Two: **A Woman Scorned**

[One dies, the other is enlightened. Though, not as you would expect] _(WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, VIOLENCE, GORE)]_

Chapter Three: N/A


	2. Eye Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dale and Laura meet, in passing.

**Eye Contact.**

—

Dale freezes.

He doesn’t quite know why, but after all of these hellish loops, Dale looks in the mirror, sees The Woman, and pauses. He doesn’t turn dramatically, he doesn’t call out to her, simply looks the apparition dead in the eye. She stands perfectly still, statuesque and haunting.

And, eventually, looks back.

A crawling feeling begins to swirl in his gut, the same that occurs every cycle. The same as just before she gently opens her eyes and the blood is spilt and she pitches backwards into the lake. That twisting feeling of uneasiness, anticipation and horror. Twinged with guilt.

She blinks.

He blinks.

“Are you—“ he begins, startled by the sound of his own voice.

And it’s then he _swears_ he can see her eyes flicker from their distant haze, and she looks deeply, _deeply_ afraid.

But then she is gone, in the blink of an eye, and Dale finishes the cycle without a hitch.

—

The detective rubs his eyes, taking a deep breath before turning to the mirror again. And, lo and behold, there she is once more. Dazed. Unmoving.

Like a corpse. Which was true, in a sense.

They resumed their little staring contest—it had become routine at this point. The only consistent variation he’d encountered throughout these horrible cycles.

She blinks.

He blinks.

Awkwardly, he raises a hand in a half-wave greeting, and her eyes drift to the motion.

The woman looks back at him, and to his surprise, does the same.

Then she’s gone. Again. Like always.

_Well. it’s a start._ He muses to himself, and finishes the room in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was one of my first Rusty Lake pieces, and I decided to use it to start off my RL Drabble multi-chapter! None of these fics take place in the same canon divergence, and can all be read as stand alone.


	3. A Woman Scorned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One dies, the other is enlightened. Though, not how you would expect.
> 
> (WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, VIOLENCE, GORE, DISSOCIATION)

**A Woman Scorned**

  
———

when the detective turns from the mirror, she does not vanish. laura stands there, staring him down. she’s seen his reflection. an empty shadow, white eyes fizzing like radio static. and suddenly, she _knows_.

immediately, he startles, breath picking up. fear. _guilt_ , she realizes. this is not the first time he’s gone through this room, and they both remember how it ends, her blood spilt into the lake.

at _his_ hands.

the same knife hands loosely from her fingers, and his eyes flicker to it sharply. “how did you…” he begins to ask, wary, before she steps closer.

”you did this to me.” she breathes, shaking, eyes wide with understanding and rage, “ _YOU DID THIS TO ME!_ ”

then she raises the knife and the world is flashing and bird is screaming and radio is crackling and the phone is ringing and she can’t _breathe_ and _there is so much blood_ and _then_

and then the detective is on the floor, gasping, trembling hands hovering over the gore filled canvas of his torso. mouth agape in shock. horror. he tries to speak, to say something, but the silent _why_? shines evident on his face before his eyes roll back—

he stops moving.

laura stands there, knife in hand, frozen. suddenly her body isn’t her own, she feels like she’s miles away. as if it wasn’t _her_ hands that just stabbed the detective to death, as if it wasn’t _her_ hands that left his body bleeding and broken on the ground—

she gasps, shaking, trying to keep her composure, but her brain filled with a vicious fog. she thinks her legs might give out. she wants to scream. she wants to laugh until she cries. she wants to vomit. she wants to run.

because the longer she looks at that slack face, the more it all comes back. memories. voices. _your place has already been taken_. 1972, fall. sirens, the yellow tape, the detective finding her body, searching for clues, then his abject terror when she lifts off the ground, the moths filling the room like smoke. this isn’t right. this isn’t _right_.

  
_it wasn’t his fault._

  
what has she done?

the world is a blur of guilt to the point of agony, but she dimly recognizes two figures standing on either side of her. the knife being guided out of her hands. a voice, speaking low, easing out of the choking silence.

”hm.” muses the owl, peering down at the detective. “i will admit, this was not the outcome i was expecting.” his gaze is vaguely surprised, though awfully aloof for someone looking at the bloody remains of a dead man.

“ _ah, well. hell hath no fury, i suppose_.” the crow croons, almost smug, and, god, she could just _kill him_.

the owl gives a tired sigh, turning to face the back of the room. there is the sound of gears turning, chains pulling. the old grate of an elevator lowering.

“come, now.” he urges her softly. “as of now, you are the reborn mind. And your destiny awaits.” 

she can’t find it in herself to protest as an object is placed in her hands. a cube, shimmering gold. she’s suddenly numb, almost dumbstruck as she’s led into the lift chamber, taking one last look at the body on the ground.

it wasn’t supposed to be like this, she knows them. truly _knows_. but what was there to do now?

the elevator jerks with a _thunk_ and begins to rise, and laura ascends along with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA LAURA GOES APESHIT SHDHJDF, this idea came to me very randomly but I LOVE exploring the ramifications of the prophecies and how Rusty Lake works as a whole. also I have this habit where I take my favorite characters and go ‘hmm, let’s make you suffer :)’ so Take This


End file.
